NEW YORK, Feb 1 — Media mogul Byron Allen has offered to purchase Paramount Global, which owns television networks CBS and MTV, for US$14.3 billion (RM67.6 billion), a spokesperson for Allen Media Group said yesterday.
Including the debt, the deal would be valued at around US$30 billion, the spokesperson said.
Known as one of the smallest major players in television and streaming, Paramount Global has been seen as a leading acquisition target in recent months.
The company’s streaming platform, which was launched in March 2021, had about 63 million subscribers at the end of September.
Formerly known as ViacomCBS, Paramount Global’s holdings also include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and the Paramount movie studio.
Under the proposed deal, Allen would pay US$28.58 per share for voting shares and US$21.53 per share for non-voting shares of Paramount.
Shares of Paramount jumped 8.2 per cent to US$14.81 yesterday afternoon near 2pm.
Originally known as a comedian, Allen, 62, is one of the few African Americans among big US media players.
His biggest acquisition to date is the Weather Channel, purchased in 2018 for US$300 million.
With annual revenues of around US$600 million, Allen’s group is much smaller than its acquisition target, which had revenues of US$30.1 billion in 2022.
Paramount Global did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Paramount Global has also received interest from another potential acquirer, Skydance Media, according to reports last week.
At the end of December, Axios reported merger talks between Paramount Global and Warner Brothers Discovery. — AFP
